That’s what’s happening to Atlanta Falcons fullback Ovie Mughelli, whose sexuality was supposedly unveiled on the website MissJia.com by someone claiming to be his ex-boyfriend. The report, originally posted as a blind item, was quickly followed up with the reveal, which includes photo evidence of their relationship, like pictures of Mughelli and a car rental receipt with his name on it. (Predictably, the rumors are not being addressed by the Falcons or Mughelli’s publicist; questions are being directed to his attorneys.)

The same-sex romance supposedly began when Mughelli was a college student in 2001 and, heartbroken over breaking up with his girlfriend, called on his now tell-all former lover. Fast-forward a few years and Mughelli goes pro, and for “professional” reasons needed to end the relationship. About another two years pass, contact is reestablished (yes we are seriously summarizing here), and Mughelli arranges a meet with his sometimes-lover — only to have his attorney slide an envelope across the table, which is his to keep if he’ll leave the NFLer alone. (He refused, and says he never opened the envelope.) “It wasn’t until I got back home, got my thoughts together and tried to figure out why he would be so cruel to me and publicly degrade me. Oh, the beauty of the internet. Jackass. He just signed a deal with the Atlanta Falcons, totaling over $20 million dollars. That is why he tried to write me off. Because of money.” Well, yeah.

So why come forward with this story now? “The reason I have decided to come out with this story is because I have given him more than enough time to right this wrong. To not treat me like a skeleton in his closet, but to speak to me, man to man about the situation, and why he turned our relationship into a would-be scandal. I am the one who told him my being his lover could ruin his career, and I kept our relationship between us because he was right, it wasn’t anyone’s business. He is the one doing this to his life, not me. He is the one living the extravagent life in Atlanta, posing in magazines as one of the most eligible bachelors, dating countless women, who can confirm as I know, he has hate issues with women. I’m sure any woman he has been with up until this point has only been with him for his money, but he doesn’t care because it looks ‘normal.’ He promised he would take care of me, but only when he was a low-profile athlete. The minute he turned high-profile, he let the wrong people get in his ear, people whom he pay to protect his image, yet they made the mistake of ruining him by trying to hush me with money.”

Ouch. That’s some bitterness right there.

Thus far, Mughelli’s self-professed ex-boyfriend hasn’t identified himself, but he will supposedly appear in a video interview with MissJia.com to back up his statements. (UPDATE: The video is here, and the ex-lover reveals himself to be a one Francois Sloan.)

All in all, it’s a shitty situation for all parties involved. Mughelli is outed against his will, and must now deal with the fallout, both professionally and personally. His ex-lover, clearly, remains furious over their parting of ways, and Mughelli’s cutting him out of his life, and it’s wholly unlikely the pair will ever reconcile after this.

We’re just curious to see whether mainstream sports media will hop onto the story and follow the lead of the sports and gay blogs.

UPDATE: Blogs who reported the story from MissJia.com, including this one, have received cease-and-desist letters from Mughelli’s counsel Phaedra Parks, who is attempting to remove any mention of this story from the web. What Ms. Parks does not realize is her client is a public figure, and no actual malice took place. We’ve reached out to Parks for comment and clarification; she has not responded.

Deadspin had something on this a couple days ago. I think Outsports is still holding their tongue.

Jan 8, 2010 at 1:43 pm · @Reply ·

uffda

he was covered in gold leaf?

Jan 8, 2010 at 1:46 pm · @Reply ·

romeo

Jilted Jilted Jilted ! LMAO

As for the story, I love it when this kind of hypocritical shit hits the fan. His best course of action is just to let it be. Neither confirm nor deny — and quietly back together with the ex. We’ve seen enough to know that no one is really going to care that much. BTW, how valuable a player is he?

Jan 8, 2010 at 1:46 pm · @Reply ·

Same Crap

I would have at least peeked into the envelope.

Jan 8, 2010 at 1:52 pm · @Reply ·

Cam

Yeeeeeahhhhh, he was so broken up about breaking up with his girlfriend that he slept with a man…give me a break. Being upset doesn’t make you gay….being gay makes you gay.

Jan 8, 2010 at 2:04 pm · @Reply ·

romeo

One thing, though, if this gets confirmed, America will have another glaring example that we’re not who they think we are. LOL

Jan 8, 2010 at 2:16 pm · @Reply ·

Javier

The story may be bogus, BUT it is telling that Ovie Mughelli has not responded publicly yet, though it has been out for days now. When asked to comment, the team and his publicist have deferred to his attorneys, who still haven’t commented either. At this juncture, an official response would normally been made.

Interesting. Sounds like he’s either going to come out or file a lawsuit. Hope it’s the former, obviously.

And, yes, jilted. I’m beginning to think all the typos, spelling mistakes and terrible grammar here are deliberate – nobody could be that illiterate. Either that or there’s a six year old running the site now.

Jan 8, 2010 at 2:36 pm · @Reply ·

Bo

Romeo makes a good point – we don’t all fit the “stereotype”
I think the alleged “ex” is a jerk for even going public with this, Ovie has every right to keep his sexuality private (straight or gay) and no one else should try to force another to go public.
Yes, it could be helpful in the long run for the “gay agenda” but I am not sure the other athletes are ready to be accepting unfortunately. We’ll see.

Jan 8, 2010 at 2:37 pm · @Reply ·

Barney F.

Damn he is sexy. Really wow. I would let him tackle me and grab my ball(s) anytime.

Jan 8, 2010 at 2:49 pm · @Reply ·

salty73

if this story is true, the “down-low” idiots need to take note. if you are going to fool around with someone and their heart, you better end the relationship in a civil manner or you might be calling for a lawyer.

Jan 8, 2010 at 2:49 pm · @Reply ·

blackjack44

@No. 12 · olv2234 black people are the only ones with gay issues? very dumb statement.

Jan 8, 2010 at 2:53 pm · @Reply ·

Cam

No. 11 · Bo said…

I think the alleged “ex” is a jerk for even going public with this, Ovie has every right to keep his sexuality private (straight or gay) and no one else should try to force another to go public.
______________________________________

Straight people don’t keep their sexuality public. People on the whole are assumed to be straight unless they speak up.

Jan 8, 2010 at 2:55 pm · @Reply ·

Cam

Last post public should be private

Jan 8, 2010 at 2:58 pm · @Reply ·

Observer

For the team nor the player to have responded yet to this “scandal” shows just how “concerned” about it they really are. It has all the sounds of a queen who demanded more money than they were being offered and is now trying to ruin this guys life because he now knows he will get nothing.

If he really “loved” the guy why is he babbling to everyone that will listen. Does this sound like a “concerned” lover to you? Not to me.

Jan 8, 2010 at 2:59 pm · @Reply ·

drewbrown

@OBSERVER: If you read the full account at the MissJia site you’ll get a better sense of what happened. I don’t think he’s pretending to do it out of concern. This is definitely payback time for the “ex” – he’s doing this to get even for having been treated badly. The two had a years-long off-and-on relationship, then the football player tried to give him “hush money” to go away and never contact him again. I’d be pissed, too. However, I would’ve taken the money. But that’s just me :)

Jan 8, 2010 at 3:22 pm · @Reply ·

soul_erosion

Thought I’d better jump in here before Terrwill for the renaming ceremony, how ’bout Olivia Mughelli, the gilded gridiron queen of Atlanta? Hard to believe the Queerty editor’s spell check didn’t ask, did you mean “guilted,” as in responsible for a mistake or error.

Jan 8, 2010 at 3:22 pm · @Reply ·

AlwaysGay

This is something a woman would do (just an observation). It always irks me when gay men do this stuff. I don’t support the lover at all, he clearly is a gold digger. Now that he didn’t get his way he is trying to bring down Mughelli. Shame on him.

Jan 8, 2010 at 3:24 pm · @Reply ·

terrwill

No. 20 · soul_erosion: The ceremony WAS scheduled for 6pm! : P

Jan 8, 2010 at 3:34 pm · @Reply ·

Lane

@AlwaysGay
It is not something just women do. Anyone who is willing to be vindictive fits the bill.

Jan 8, 2010 at 3:38 pm · @Reply ·

terrwill

I want to know why Queert has yet to post the story about the latest culinary dish being served in that wonderful land of dirt, uganda………its called “The Children of Uganda”…….

@ salty73: Why do people never use the term “down-low” when famous white closeted men who have dated or married women are outed. Just asking…

I knew this post would turn into a racial debacle. And there I go taking the bait.

Jan 8, 2010 at 3:41 pm · @Reply ·

asa1973

“Down” should be “don’t” in that last post.

Jan 8, 2010 at 3:58 pm · @Reply ·

Same Crap

“I knew this post would turn into a racial debacle. And there I go taking the bait.”

It’s ok. Some white racist gays just can’t help themselves.

Jan 8, 2010 at 4:05 pm · @Reply ·

Same Crap

“Just talk to Ted Haggard.”

Or Larry Craig or Lindsey Graham or Matt Drudge or Mitch McConnell or Patrick Henry or Charlie Crist

Jan 8, 2010 at 4:11 pm · @Reply ·

dizzy spins

um, folks–“gilded” means painted in gold. Queerty was using alliteration, suggesting Mughelli is a much-beloved sports player. He wasnt the one who was “jilted” so that wouldn’t be the right word. And “guilted” isnt an adjective.

Jan 8, 2010 at 4:21 pm · @Reply ·

Ritorna

Most revealing sentence: “He promised he would take care of me…” The kid’s motivations are suspect.

Jan 8, 2010 at 4:34 pm · @Reply ·

FakeName

Asa1973 sez: Why do people never use the term “down-low” when famous white closeted men who have dated or married women are outed.

Because the term originated in the African American community and has not migrated linguistically beyond that community as of yet.

Dizzy Spins sez: um, folks–”gilded” means painted in gold. Queerty was using alliteration, suggesting Mughelli is a much-beloved sports player. He wasnt the one who was “jilted” so that wouldn’t be the right word. And “guilted” isnt an adjective.

Sorry, no. First, what was “gilted” supposed to be alliterative with? Alliteration is a repeated phoneme and “Mughelli” is not pronounced with either a “g” or a “j” sound. Second, the headline means that the player was outed by someone whom he, the player, supposedly jilted. Third, given that we are talking about Queerty here, Occam’s Razor, which dictates that the simplest answer is generally the right one, tells us that this was just one more example of Queerty’s legendary poor proofreading/editing skills.

Jan 8, 2010 at 4:38 pm · @Reply ·

angus

How sad.

Jan 8, 2010 at 4:41 pm · @Reply ·

Colby412

I’m confused. Where is the proof that he is gay besides the ex boyfriends’s statement? Pics of a guy standing in boxer briefs don’t mean a guy is gay. Where are the photos proving he is gay?

Jan 8, 2010 at 4:43 pm · @Reply ·

asa1973

@FakeName: It did originate in the AA community, but it definitely has been appropriated by other communities. It’s just interesting to me how people immediately use the term “down low” (and put it in quotes) when speaking about a closeted black person, and simply use the word “closeted” (sans quotes) when speaking about non-black closet cases.

It’s like saying Denzel Washington invited a group of his “homies” to “grub” with him, while saying Brad Pitt threw a dinner party for his friends.

Jan 8, 2010 at 4:59 pm · @Reply ·

cj

can’t we just take this post as a morning good and not a “failfest”, he is attractive

Jan 8, 2010 at 5:11 pm · @Reply ·

sal(the original)

i hate nasty a ex, i have seen a friend HURT by that kinda shit

Jan 8, 2010 at 6:35 pm · @Reply ·

Michael W.

How could he be stupid enough to end the relationship bitterly? Somebody like that, you keep ‘em close, maybe throw him the dick every once in a while. You can’t discard a lover and not expect any blowback if you’re a famous person on the DL. Either have them killed or remain distant friends as a means of self preservation.

Jan 8, 2010 at 6:40 pm · @Reply ·

Lucas

“Most revealing sentence: “He promised he would take care of me…” The kid’s motivations are suspect.”

Yeah, that goes to his motivation for telling the story, but really doesn’t undermine the veracity of the story. If anything, it may bolster it, since it shows that some type of close, intimate relationship existed between such that the ex-friend was so emotionally connected that he now feels jilted by Ovie. It might not prove that there was a romantic or sexual relationship, but there was something going on between these two.

Jan 8, 2010 at 6:43 pm · @Reply ·

JonathanHasHadIt

Another self-absorbed, narcissistic athlete with tons of money who parades himself one way and then loves to suck cock. Good for the ex lover. Tired of these phonies and hypocrites. Let his career suffer. Maybe when his pocket hurts he will embrace who he is proudly. Now, will Oprah call?

Jan 8, 2010 at 6:43 pm · @Reply ·

NoDoubleStandards

Does not sound like either the NFL player or his ex are nice guys.

Jan 8, 2010 at 6:46 pm · @Reply ·

dontblamemeivotedforhillary

The mainstream (Corporate Media) is not in the business of ‘Outing’ celebrities as there are many more huge names to contend with before a Sports star that few recognize is ‘Outed’ by an unhinged bitter Ex. How about normalizing bisexuality which is termed “Gay” by homophobes and the more gossipy gays who’s own lives seem empty and vacuous like Queerty’s bloggers.

Jan 8, 2010 at 6:49 pm · @Reply ·

tonyboy

I agree with Cobly. Not sure where the proof is that this guy is gay. How do a couple of photos in your underwear and tickets say a guy is gay? Plenty of straight guys have pics in their underwear taken by girlfriends and why can’t a straight guy give tickets to a gay guy? I don’t understand why people are quickly to say the guy is gay with little to no proof other than an “ex’s” statement.

— Dude?! WTF?! An attempt at humor is one thing, but this statement is a huge fail in my book. Some things, in this crazy world, are never funny.

Now, I don’t advocate outing.

However, when one deceives, they do deserve what they get. How many jilted lovers do messy shit for revenge? C’mon, we’ve all been there. Passion and pain have made us all do some crazy stuff. This is no different.

I don’t want to throw all the DL athletes out of the closet, but with all that going on in the world and on the civil rights front of gay people in America, the battle to be treated equality under the law, DL men who —

A) lie and deceive women about their true nature,

B) could give two shits about the struggle for equality that the rest of us on the front lines deal with daily, yet they’ll ultimately reap the benefits of

— do not deserve anyone’s tears when their deceit is exposed, however messily on the internet.

Having said that, I still don’t advocate outing. But I’m glad (thrilled even) that some of our seedier brethren do. lol

Jan 8, 2010 at 7:59 pm · @Reply ·

sal(the original)

@taylor “Passion and pain have made us all do some crazy stuff. This is no different.” glad you called it what it is CRAZY as in NOT SANE

Jan 8, 2010 at 8:17 pm · @Reply ·

jason

I think this is healthy but I think what’s more important is how the NFL and the mainstream media react to the outing of a bisexual man. Let’s follow this closely – we have a lot to gain from a mature and accepting approach to Mughelli.

Jan 8, 2010 at 8:24 pm · @Reply ·

jason

Let’s not allow the gay Nazis to polarize Mughelli into the “gay” category. If he’s oriented to both men and women, as appears to be the case, then he’s bisexual. As I said, let’s not allow the gay Nazis to push Mughelli into the gay category for their own selfish political needs.

By all means, let’s celebrate and discuss this. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow narrow-minded gay Nazis to control this conversation.

Jan 8, 2010 at 8:40 pm · @Reply ·

NoDoubleStandards

No Proof Crowd

I hate the smoking guns type of posts.

Most of life is not about 100 percent proof. There is circumstantial evidence. What you mean is not that there is no proof. What you mean is you don’t have photos of him in bed fucking or being fucked by a guy. In most instances you are not going to receive that in life. So believe the circumstantial evidence or don’t, but don’t say there is no proof.

Jan 8, 2010 at 9:42 pm · @Reply ·

Lukas P.

Jilted ex, gilded NFL star, and guilty all around!
Truth(s) in point:
—We’d be safer saying the player is likely bisexual than gay. Fair enough.
—We have no proof yet (publicly) that the two were an “item.” The silence on the part of the team/NFL/agent/player/lawyers is interesting, sure, but only time will tell.
—The jilted one didn’t know what was in the envelope, so he says, so we can’t assume it was money. (But, what else could it have been?
—“On the DL,” here in Chicago, is used by non-African Americans to refer Men who have Sex with Men, but it does seem to refer mostly to Black men. I definitely have heard it spoken to refer to non-Black men, but not that often at all. (Remember though that I talk about sex a lot at work!)
—Outing a lover is a pretty lousy way to trying to reconcile.
—Famous people DO sometimes have their lovers sign attorney-approved confidentialty forms in the entertainment industry; why not the sports world? Yes, I have seen one, and no I wasn’t the one who signed it.

I’m waiting for such a scandal to hit the Hockey world now! Or swimming!

Jan 8, 2010 at 10:13 pm · @Reply ·

Chitown Kev

@Taylor S.

Yeah, I agree with you, you don’t SAY that but I think Michael W. is kinda right about that.

Of course, you can also supply nice fat healthy bank deposits on a biweekly or a monthly basis to said ex-lover. Honey chile shoulda took those coins, fuck the principle of the thing…

ovie is a text book example of the condition known as “gay face”. fortunately, it is incurable…

welcome to our club mr. mughelli. now we get to watch you deny, deny, deny until the media get bored and move on….fun!

Jan 8, 2010 at 11:30 pm · @Reply ·

Mrs.Weiss

They all sound like a rotten bunch…

Jan 8, 2010 at 11:34 pm · @Reply ·

Bob Lablah

The story over on the other website reads like a crock of shit if ever a crock of shit existed. This vindictive queen is trying to ruin his career with nothing but pictures based on a man standing in his underwear.

I don’t give a damn if he had an erection and the queen was in the picture without video proof you are nothing but a whining ass queen with a VERY hard to believe story.

The queen was the one who told him to break off the affair. Ok, so you did. Now if that is true why shoud be give a shit about what happened next?

Let us hope we don’t next read about him catching up with this queen and beating her ass for her.

If this story is true, Ovie Mughelli would be a tortured soul right now. The NFL and the NBA are sort of like being in the army with a DADT policy, you won’t be fired but you will surely be ostracized in the locker room.

This will be what we can call a “teachable moment” for our country.

Jan 9, 2010 at 1:40 am · @Reply ·

o

it makes you wonder about sports how many of them are gay in how many are not

Jan 9, 2010 at 3:53 am · @Reply ·

reason

I think that this guy is just looking to extort money out of him; if you really love someone you would let them go not put their life at risk. If he is gay, I have no problem with him staying in the closet: countless people have stayed in the closet while pursuing their carriers including outed politician Barney Frank. This guy has been working his whole life to get to the NFL, why would he ruin all of that to come out of the closet. It is easy for someone to point the finger, but how many people would come out leaving the hard work, career, family, and 20 million on the table. People fail to realize that the NFL is a very dangerous job, careers are short and some players suffer extremely debilitating injuries. The are lots of stories about retired players in their late twenties that will be bedridden for life with spinal and brain injuries; nearly going bankrupt from excessive medical bills. Now put a player out on the field with the gay target on his head, what do you think is going to happen to him? It is naive to think he going to be ostracized in the locker room, he going to be paralyzed or killed on the field. All it takes is one person, but assuming that bigotry exists in the NFL at the same levels as it does in society this guy is in serious trouble. An average player can deliver over 3/4 tons of force (>1500 lbs, the weight of a ford F-250 truck) to an object ” http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/4212171.html ” a planed blow to the neck could be life ending no mater how much protection one has on. Taking into account what the “Family” wants to do in Uganda someone will carryout out the act. Some people value life more than those that believe that they will have a 1000 virgins waiting for them in heaven after becoming a martyr for the gay community. If it is true, this guy is one of us and I definitely don’t want to see someone give up their career or get seriously injured just because they are gay.

Jan 9, 2010 at 4:14 am · @Reply ·

NoDoubleStandards

There is no requirement that one be a doormat for love.

Jan 9, 2010 at 6:05 am · @Reply ·

Sam

Hmm… I don’t see any other guys in those pictures. I may be cynical, but for some reason I get the feeling that this “jilted ex-lover” is actually an ex-girlfriend who wanted revenge and decided to play the gay angle for extra humiliation. That or the ex-boyfriend is afraid to show his face while outing this football player, which is more than a little hypocritical.

No. 51 · Chitown Kev — Yes, he shoulda took the money. But I have a funny feeling there was no money, or it wasn’t enough. God don’t like ugly – or cheapies. lol

No. 60 · Sam — Allegedly, the guy is gonna show his face in an interview with Miss Jia. We shall see.

Jan 9, 2010 at 9:35 am · @Reply ·

dexter

Just remember, each of us in any career could be ruined by an ex with a grudge if we remain in the closet. Whether its a football player or whatever, it shouldn’t be supported or diseminated. Maybe this guy was just a trick or a guy willing to be used (and loving it) and there was never a relationship as far as the football player was concerned. Its extortion either way.

Well, the Miss Jia post is still up, despite the wagon-train of lawyers and publicists actively circling. I’m smelling the scent of truth here. Now, the wait for the video reveal of the accuser she’s promised. Hmmmm….

Jan 9, 2010 at 10:49 am · @Reply ·

Gurlene

Atlanta Falcons’ Ovie Mughelli Was Just Outed By a Jilted Ex-Lover. Uh Oh

I could not agree more with the last part about Uh, Oh. If I were Ovie, a baseball bat and her ass would have a date where I would be wielding the chaperon with full force. I hope he stomps her whining as so far in the ground she don’t come up till spring.

Damn gay violence, there is no way I would let a mixed up (possibly confused church queen) fuck up $20 million dollars for me and get away with it.

How was the ex publickly humilated? He’s the one who made this alleged mess known. Sounds like he wanted to ride the gravy train that comes with a nfl player, bitch just made because he couldn’t lock it down with a baby.

pettiness

Jan 9, 2010 at 11:49 am · @Reply ·

Gurlene

Taylor there is just where the problem is. He DID try to keep her quiet and according to her (which I do not believe) she didn’t accept the money. Let 20/20 or the Today show step in for interviews and Hollywood start calling and see if her ass will still feel that way. I doubt it. Jesus will be placed on the sidelines until the money is gone and the phone stops ringing.

If her story is true (which I doubt fiercely) then the only other conclusion I come to is “she” must be a mixed up church queen (Church of God in Christ a strong candidate). This reminds me of that b/s that happened to that actor who stars in Tyler Perry movies who undoubtedly told that projects hustler he was treating to first class travel, hotels/limos and fine restaurants it was over and he schemed to get “evidence” of his (Terrell Carter I think his name was) being gay. So much for love, huh?

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NOT CHECKED OUT TAYLORS SITE YOU ARE MISSING A REAL TREAT!!!

Could be an ex girlfriend….they always accuse guys of being gay…Right Miley Cyrus….

Jan 9, 2010 at 12:19 pm · @Reply ·

jason [Different person #1 using similar name]

Why hasn’t the gay community seriously questioned the NFL on its don’t ask, don’t tell policy regarding male sexuality within the NFL? The gay community has been very negligent in this regard. We should be breathing down their necks.

Jan 9, 2010 at 3:19 pm · @Reply ·

salty73

to asa1973: when i wrote down-low, i mean all of the men and women who are scared and/or duplicitous enough to have a year long relationship with someone and attempt to pay them to be quiet. you can be white, green or pink to be down-low. all you need are low self-esteem and no morals. the truth shall seen sooner or later. the ex is giving interviews soon.

Jan 9, 2010 at 4:09 pm · @Reply ·

EECT

Sounds to me like this “ex” is nothing but a publicity hound… He saw how much attention Tiger’s women got and he thought, “Hey, why not me. By the time anyone proves anything one way or another, I’ll already have signed a book deal and gotten onto a reality show.”

Honestly, whether it is true or not, I feel VERY sorry for Ovie. I met him once at a dinner where he was the guest speaker — promoting the NFL Play60 program that works to get playgrounds into schools that can’t afford them. He was VERY well-spoken and seem VERY sincere.

I’ve also met with his Foundation Director. His non-profit Foundation was founded to help deserving children. And his Summer Camp is an amazing program for children — he got many of his fellow atheletes to help teach the children about football and also life skills. The Camp also had a focus on ‘green’ issues, teaching the children about ecology and the environment.

Now, because of one mud-slinging, self-centered ‘queen’ with an attitude and a desire for her 15-minutes-of-fame — so many others will be hurt. Can you imagine the damage that will be done to Ovie’s Foundation and the incredible work it has been doing?

No matter how “accepting” people are (and, here in the South, most are NOT accepting at all)… very few people will support any children’s program that is run by a single men who has been “tainted” as being gay. (The conservative right has done a pretty good job of confusing themselves into believing that “gay” and “pedophile” are one-in-the-same.)

Professional atheletes have the opportunity to do great things — thanks to the money they earn, and the fame they garner. And many of them do wonderful things to make the world a little bit better for others. Would it be a “wonderful thing” if a professional athelete/role model made the decision to come OUT PROUD? YES!!! Is that a decision that any of us can make for another person? NO!!!

Ovie’s private life is just that — PRIVATE!!! And his public life is…well…PRAISEWORTHY!!!

It shouldn’t matter if a person is gay or straight, out or closeted, liberal or conservative, black or white, etc. etc. — what should matter is whether that person is a GOOD person. And, from what I’ve seen, Ovie is a GREAT person! We should all stive to be more like him.

Jan 9, 2010 at 9:39 pm · @Reply ·

Dan

Maybe its just me but i don’t think that the outing is the main focus in this situation. It is the means of payback but i’d say thats just the weapon that could be used in this situation.

Just going by what was say in the article, someone tried to payoff someone elses silence (could have been cash could have been an NDA in the envelop its irrelivant). What peeves me off the most is when someone decides that they don’t want to be accountable for their own actions and that they have so little trust the people around them that they want to payoff their silence.

I don’t believe in outing people but damn anyone who thinks they can throw money at undesirable things to make them dissapear gets what they deserve tenfold.

Jan 9, 2010 at 10:57 pm · @Reply ·

Javier [Different person #1 using similar name]

“Why hasn’t the gay community seriously questioned the NFL on its don’t ask, don’t tell policy regarding male sexuality within the NFL?”

Because there is no policy, unlike the military that requires football players to be closeted. Instead, it is the aggregate culture of the people who play the sport and the sports’ fans that keep people closeted. In 21 states, NFL employees are protected form discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, so football players in that state legally would have recourse from discrimination. The issue is with the culture of the sport, not the policies.

Jan 10, 2010 at 12:03 am · @Reply ·

jj

“I knew this post would turn into a racial debacle. And there I go taking the bait.”

It’s ok. Some white racist gays just can’t help themselves.”

pretty much sums up my thoughts on the previous comments. i don’t mean to get off topic but i’ll never understand how SOME gays can be so rude when it comes to racial topics, not just blacks but every minority. it’s just stupid.

anyways i hope this story if false and just a rumor. any sort of outing is plain wrong.

Jan 10, 2010 at 12:10 am · @Reply ·

jazlynn

Lmmfao. I don’t think I believe this story… if he felt as jilted as he claims he did he would have posted these pix that I don’t believe exist because if he was that far in the closet there would be no pix…if that made sense. Maybe he was close friends with a gay guy and decided it was in his best interest to distance himself? Some of you fools are funny! Ruining his career is supposed to make him embrace homosexuality? Explain that to me.

Miss Jia has revealed the identity of the accuser! This is all looking completely legit.

Normally I wouldn’t be celebrating the forced outing of an athlete, but from what this guy is saying, Ovie’s a real dick.

Jan 10, 2010 at 2:24 am · @Reply ·

Erics78

Listen up everybody black or white it doesn’t matter what color he is the only thing that should matter is if the story is true or not, and honestly it’s probably true as much as I love football it seems kind of gay to wear tights slapp each other on the butts and take showers together if that’s not a recipe for gay then I don’t know what is.

Jan 10, 2010 at 4:00 am · @Reply ·

Scott

Before this pathetic story came out Ovie was a black man and that’s how a majority of the world saw him. Now the world can see Ovie as a gay man which has no color,because when someone is labeled gay that’s all you see when you look at them, you don’t see white,brown,or black you just see gay,so you guys should honestly throw that black and white shit out the window because it doesn’t exist. When Ovie walks into a room most people are going to think in their heads there’s that gay football player their not going to think there’s that black football player. Your either gay or not so if you have to pick a color for Ovie I suggest all the colors of the rainbow ,and by the way let’s pray that Ovie hasn’t fucked a fellow teammate yet like his tight-end.

Jan 10, 2010 at 10:35 am · @Reply ·

Ivan

On one hand, there is Anderson Cooper, who is obviously gay, but never speaks about his private life nor pretends that he is str8. Then you have people like Ovie (if this allegations are proven true), who try to create a str8 image to promote their career. For them, I have no sympathy at being outed.

Jan 10, 2010 at 11:01 am · @Reply ·

MickW

Ovie will have nothing to worry about, the mainstream media doesn’t follow stories like these unless their is absolute proof like a picture of him with his dick down some guy’s mouth…and the gay media won’t care because Ovie is not a white man that most white gay men will fantasize about being with…so his career should be safe.

Jan 10, 2010 at 9:58 pm · @Reply ·

Chitown Kev

@MickW

It’s not the black or the white of it…

A $20 million contract and he ain’t bad looking. Oh, he’ll get attention no matter what his color is…or what color the attention payer is…

– I agree, he’ll get attention no matter what color he is. But as for the gay blogs, an anti-gay, holier-than-thou Irish Cougar cheating on her husband with a boy trumps this story big time. lol

Jan 10, 2010 at 11:12 pm · @Reply ·

Drew

How can you people be so cruel!!! Ruining someone for no reason. Just to get back at someone. I know that if I was the jilted lover I would never do something like that. I can say that cuz I’ve been the jilted lover a few time now. But, people are so into getting their 15 min of fame that they don’t care if they hurt someone alone the way. What have we come too?

Jan 10, 2010 at 11:30 pm · @Reply ·

CandyMan

@57 – 2%, just like the whole population. They are a subset with a statistically significant number of members (> 1200).

To the cynics saying it’s not true. Perhaps. But if the ex is smart and playing this like poker, he wouldn’t be dumb enough to turn over all his cards yet. Could get interesting.

Jan 10, 2010 at 11:41 pm · @Reply ·

javier

@Taylor. Because he dates and has been romantically involved with multiple women.

Jan 11, 2010 at 7:46 am · @Reply ·

ossurworld

This vile reaction to an alleged gay professional athlete probably means gay professional athletes will go deeper into the closet and not come out until their careers are at an end, and maybe not even then.

Jan 11, 2010 at 7:48 am · @Reply ·

Gurlene

@Candyman. On http://www.MissJia.com there is now a video posting featuring the accuser. This person is clearly DISTURBED. I mean to the point she, the accuser, sounds more like a FATAL ATTRACTION than a scorned lover. She looks the type you simply KNOW something is wrong with her before she opens her mouth. What the hell was Ovie thinking when he hooked up with this I’ll never know?

I am not really into men who are closeted but this is one case where I see the accuser was the type who can not accept something is OVER and place the blame on her. As in case closed. Discussion over.

Ovie was nice enough to offer this queen money to live off of. She could have started a business where she could have employed gay men or just put the money in the bank. But oh no, not her. Not Ms. Drama. I would not be surprised, since it has been two years, her motive is pure financial. Many of those out there in the unemployment line and working part-time at $8 per hour jobs with $1000 per month after tax dollars to come up just to pay rent know how tough it is. Who’s to say her situation is not now the same?

I hope this blows over today or by Wednesday and this girl had the good sense to buy the Sunday paper for the classified section (jobs). Girl has had her 3 seconds of fame and needs to get on with her life. How many of us out there still kick our selves now for not buy stock in Google when it sold for $70 per share and since then has sold as high as $800? You think she ain’t thinking the same way?? Hindsight makes people do desperate things like this.

Jan 11, 2010 at 11:18 am · @Reply ·

Cam

No. 48 · jason said…
Let’s not allow the gay Nazis to polarize Mughelli into the “gay” category. If he’s oriented to both men and women, as appears to be the case, then he’s bisexual. As I said, let’s not allow the gay Nazis to push Mughelli into the gay category for their own selfish political needs.
_____________________________

I find it interesting that the community is supposed to take the word of every closeted celeb, preacher etc… when they say that they really love women, just slipped up once etc… Until the bisexual community admits that claiming to be bi or claiming to have a girlfriend but being “Curious”, is a baby step out of the clset for a huge percentage of gay men, they will continue to sound silly on these posts.
Gee, this guy claims to date women….well he WOULD wouldn’t he? That would be a great way to defend against this kind of publicity. If he was TRULY attracted to women, why mess up his career prospects by continuing to see the guy etc…. But no, instead of just relaxing, the typical angry bi’s come on here, freak out and start calling the gays “Nazi’s”. Nice hyperbole fools.

I agree. I bristled at the “gay nazi” term as well but ignored it. And how many times do you have to say it in one post? It screams of someone saddled with issues over their own identity, lashing out of those who are quite comfortable with who they are.

As far as closeted/DL guys claiming to like women … LMAO. You nailed it!

Hate that someone could get outed without their own will, but I also hate that no gay, active NFL player has come out.

Outsports is waiting for the stories to be confirmed, which is fair, in the event that the stories are false.

Unless it is a publicity stunt by the website, I couldn’t see any other incentive for the ex, assuming the person is who they say they are (could have made money by revealing on a more accredited / gossip website).

For my own shameless plug now, I write a blog on gay rights and the sports industry. widerights.com

Jan 12, 2010 at 12:14 am · @Reply ·

Lukas P.

@Pete—Good webisite. Was “tightends.com” already taken? Just kidding.

Am still waiting for a still-active pro-golfer, tennis guy, hockey player or olympic swimmer to come out — without being outed, preferably.

Jan 12, 2010 at 12:34 am · @Reply ·

Tim

Theirs never an excuse for an adult to out another adult, unless your in court under oath!

could be another player looking for his position to get the fat contract he is enjoying…you know…

Jan 14, 2010 at 8:02 pm · @Reply ·

BillG

The sad thing is OVIE ISN’T GAY and that makes this wrong on so many levels. This revenge scheme is using gay sites to hurt this guy’s career and everyone is playing into it just because he’s BIG and BLACK and a CELEB.

Jan 15, 2010 at 4:15 pm · @Reply ·

Yuck

This is just bad bad taste. Leave the freaking guy alone. If he wants to date women, that’s his biz. If he wants to be on the DL, it’s his biz. It would be one thing if he were playing the Ted Haggard game and making anti-gay comments, but he’s not.

This is just really childish shite, and all it does is make the gay community look bad. Are we still that HS that we need to talk about people this way?

What kind of message does this send to guys who are questioning? If I were still in that place, I would probably think twice about exploring for fear that some jilted fag might pop up later and make a mess of my life. So sad. I really thought the gay community was moving past this.

Oh, puhleeeeeze! Give me a break. Yes, we the gay community have nothing better to do than gossip about which hunky athlete likes boys. Yes, that’s all we do, all day long – well, between shopping for high end fashion, redecorating our straight friends and families hopelessly tacky houses, and determining life altering matters like whether its time to bring back polka-dots.

I swear, if there’s not a person adding their two cents that they’re 100% sure Ovie’s not gay [No. 98 · BillG], then there are these little rants about how the gay community needs to “get past” something or other.

It’s gossip. And it always has been and always will be HUGE business.

So Puh-leez. Save it. Get off that pedestal before you fall and hurt yourself. It’s quite unstable you know.

Jan 18, 2010 at 12:33 pm · @Reply ·

skeptical

This whole thing is NOT GOOD. For one,Everyone is thinking that this guy is actually telling the truth. What if he isn’t? Thats possible, ya know. No one cares about a retraction or the truth for that matter. There was another story about an NBA player with the same type of story and he just ignored it and it really just went away. But the day it broke, everyone just assumed it was true. But the story turned out to be false.
If the story is true, What is the guy after. If he doesn’t want to be reimbursed for money he spent, then what does he want? Clearly this guy doesn’t want to be with him anymore for whatever reason. People break up everyday. I’m just saying even if it’s true, what does he want?
I’m not gay and I have nothing against someone who is gay. If he is gay and he was outed, I don’t think he deserves this. It’s no ones business but who he sleeps with. If he’s sleeping with women and leading them on, thats wrong. But it would be wrong if he was sleeping with other women as well. Infidelity is just wrong. Nowadays people are just obsessed with who’s gay and who’s not. I think it’s because so many more people have homosexul thoughts that they aren’t willing to deal with. Just my humble opinon. :). But really why would you care if someone else is sleeping with someone of the same sex. But it is interesting blogging so I get it. But let’s all remember we are dealing with someone’s personal life and this may all be just some silly Queen bein messy(not all gays or even this one are silly queens, but some do act like it).My personal beef is that I hate negativity in the media. Its this new instant information that we get thats unverified without thinking of who we are hurting… family, friends, co-workers. I’m not saying he’s right or wrong for being DL(IF, this is true). Just saying people break up everyday. What does this kat want? and why this?? He is 35 years old. Come on. He’s acting 15. Grown ups have a responsibility to realize their actions have consequences. Clealy he’s self motivated and immature.

Jan 29, 2010 at 8:16 pm · @Reply ·

phillyguy

Damn. I lived across the hall from this dude my freshman year of college. He used to check me out walking to the showers but I never tried anything cause dude was jacked and I wasn’t out. Should have gotten some play when I had the chance

Feb 20, 2010 at 4:19 pm · @Reply ·

Will

So sick of these tired lil queens who want to ruin peoples lives and careers cuz they think its the thing to do. His little connivin a$$ prolly couldn’t wait for something to go wrong so he could get his 15 minutes. If this is true at all I wouldn’t be surprised if Ovie dumped his behind just cause he was sick of the bull. Cuz if dude was worth it, he woulda found a way to continue the relationship. Dude is just mad he got dumped and now he wanna be famous.

Now if Ovie gets death threats or his job is in jeopardy over rumors he should sue the hell outta that joke for libel. I know he wishin he never wasted his time with that trash. IT’S A RELATIONSHIP, THEY DON’T ALWAYS WORK OUT! Grow up, have some integrity and dignity, and move around.

And that’s if it’s even true.

Aug 16, 2011 at 4:56 am · @Reply ·

Lee

Everything is all good until you get dumped and then you all of a sudden want to “tell the world”. You were a jump off and should have stayed in a jump offs place! This man doesn’t owe you a damn thing. get a life and move on. You sound bitter and vengeful by tying to ruin this mans career. And how many athletes go around yelling “I’m Straight!”